Stuck Injector? Mep 803a

[bzackrie]

Can anybody help me with what's going on with my generator. When it first runs it runs rough with somewhat excessive smoke then clears up after a few minutes. You can hear the tone change also. The majority of the smoke you see in the background is not from my generator, I was burning stuff at the same time. The generator has about 350hrs. Thank you for the help in advance.

Brandon

mep803a running rough

youtube.com

 

[Digger556]

Looks and sounds like it is missing, then puff of smoke and its running fine.

Could be a couple of things. Bleed down of one of the high pressure lines when off could cause one cylinder to not fire until the air purges. However several minutes is a long time to purge the air.

Other possibilty is an injector or IP is sticking, more likely the IP I would guess. It's not hard to pull either and disassemble and clean them, just time consuming. The lazy option would be a fuel system cleaner like Seafoam.

What color is the smoke before it clears? Black, blue or white?

 

[bzackrie]

Looks and sounds like it is missing, then puff of smoke and its running fine.

Could be a couple of things. Bleed down of one of the high pressure lines when off could cause one cylinder to not fire until the air purges. However several minutes is a long time to purge the air.

Other possibilty is an injector or IP is sticking, more likely the IP I would guess. It's not hard to pull either and disassemble and clean them, just time consuming. The lazy option would be a fuel system cleaner like Seafoam.

What color is the smoke before it clears? Black, blue or white?

I would say blueish.

 

[Guyfang]

Bzackrie, Please change you location to the state you live in. Its one of the few rules we have in the forum. Thanks.

 

[bzackrie]

Bzackrie, Please change you location to the state you live in. Its one of the few rules we have in the forum. Thanks.

Looks and sounds like it is missing, then puff of smoke and its running fine.

Could be a couple of things. Bleed down of one of the high pressure lines when off could cause one cylinder to not fire until the air purges. However several minutes is a long time to purge the air.

Other possibilty is an injector or IP is sticking, more likely the IP I would guess. It's not hard to pull either and disassemble and clean them, just time consuming. The lazy option would be a fuel system cleaner like Seafoam.

What color is the smoke before it clears? Black, blue or white?

I guess I'll try some seafoam and go from there.
Thank you

 

[Triple Jim]

I guess I'll try some seafoam and go from there.

Seafoam has quite a bit of isopropyl alcohol in it, and not much else. You'd be better off with a PEA containing product like Redline SI-1. It has the highest concentration of PEA of the cleaners I checked. I just ordered two 15 oz. bottles from Amazon for about $25 for the pair.

 

[bzackrie]

Seafoam has quite a bit of isopropyl alcohol in it, and not much else. You'd be better off with a PEA containing product like Redline SI-1. It has the highest concentration of PEA of the cleaners I checked. I just ordered two 15 oz. bottles from Amazon for about $25 for the pair.

Even for diesels? It doesn't mention anything for diesel engines, I only see gasoline.

 

[2Pbfeet]

Even for diesels? It doesn't mention anything for diesel engines, I only see gasoline.

SI-1 is gasoline only.

https://www.redlineoil.com/Content/files/tech/SI-1_PROD_INFO.pdf

+1 on SeaFoam, and also Optilube Summer+ for lubricity. Many of these engines were not designed for ULSD, and benefit from additional lubricity additives to modern fuel to make up for the loss of sulfur compounds.

DIESEL & GAS ADDITIVES - Diesel Fuel Additives - Summer Lube +Cetane Diesel Fuel Additives (YELLOW) - Opti-Lube Additives & Lubricants

opti-lube.com

 

[Triple Jim]

Sorry, I read some stuff that made the Redline SI-1 appear to also work for diesels. I still wouldn't put anything with alcohol in it in my fuel system.

It looks like Techron D is an additive made for diesels and contains PEA. There are several with PEA in this article:
http://www.dpfproblems.net/effective-pea-diesel-additives-which-work/

 

[WWRD99]

Can anybody help me with what's going on with my generator. When it first runs it runs rough with somewhat excessive smoke then clears up after a few minutes. You can hear the tone change also. The majority of the smoke you see in the background is not from my generator, I was burning stuff at the same time. The generator has about 350hrs. Thank you for the help in advance.

Brandon

mep803a running rough

youtube.com

any chance the return fuel lines are doing that leaking all over the hose thing they do? Mine did that until I replaced that hose from the top of the engine down to the tank. I was just running the fuel pump for a few minutes before I'd try to start it and it was fine before I did replace it.

 

[justinn]

Can anybody help me with what's going on with my generator. When it first runs it runs rough with somewhat excessive smoke then clears up after a few minutes. You can hear the tone change also. The majority of the smoke you see in the background is not from my generator, I was burning stuff at the same time. The generator has about 350hrs. Thank you for the help in advance.

Brandon

mep803a running rough

youtube.com

As others have stated, I think it's more than likely the IP than the injector itself. I would attempt to narrow down which one it is first. On the 80x series generators, it seems like almost all of the fueling problems that I've experienced have stemmed from the IP becoming sticky/stuck. Like others, I would try a higher concentration of seafoam first(after trying to narrow down which cylinder is the culprit) and if that doesn't work, or only works temporarily, at least you know which IP to start with.

Justin

 

[DieselAddict]

As easy as the pumps are to disassemble and clean by hand, I'd recommend doing that. Getting them out of the machine is the hardest part.

Do NOT use anything abrasive to clean them. Lots of clean rags and some carb cleaner is all you need. You want to avoid scratching any of the internal parts.

If you have one that is sticking it should be obvious when you take them apart.

 

[2Pbfeet]

Sorry, I read some stuff that made the Redline SI-1 appear to also work for diesels. I still wouldn't put anything with alcohol in it in my fuel system.

It looks like Techron D is an additive made for diesels and contains PEA. There are several with PEA in this article:
http://www.dpfproblems.net/effective-pea-diesel-additives-which-work/

I used to use Techron D a fair amount. After some problem engines not getting especially better, I found had more luck with SeaFoam, but I really think it depends on what your particular engine is dealing with. PEA (PolyEther Amine, not what the author above claims in the link above), is a fine detergent, but there is so much fluff and unsubstantiated material around fuel additives, that I would take anything not supported by quality third party studies to be magic at some level.

The optilube recommendation came to me from a third party study quoted over at

Info: - Lubricity Additive Study Results

www.dieselplace.com

I would point out that while biodiesel had the greatest increase in lubricity in the above study, Lister Petter specifically recommends against using biodiesel and vegetable oil in generator applications. In regular engine use, Lister Petter allows it, but recommends replacing all of the fuel facing rubber materials with fluoroelastomer versions (aka Viton o-rings and tubing). Biodiesel and vegetable oils are more prone to oxidation (turning into acids that corrode metals), and being consumed by bacteria and fungi, aka diesel slime/"algae", which will really shorten the life of your filters and injectors.

I agree with @DieselAddict that there is nothing like actually disassembling things and cleaning them, but for mild cases a slug of your favorite fuel cleaner additive can go a long way.

All the best,

2Pbfeet

 

[Ray70]

Given the recent issues I've seen with low sulfur fuel and IP pump problems on 002's and 003's I've switched from the diesel additives found at the local parts stores ( Howes, Diesel 911, Power Service ) to Optilube XPD exclusively.
I also add in a bit of ATF as well.
Specifically for the intermittent injector issue here, my approach would be to pull the exhaust manifold off and run the machine to see which cylinder throws the smoke, then address the injector or metering pump on that cylinder directly.
You can easily swap the injector to a different cylinder to see if the problem follows the injector.
If not, swap the IP next.
Once you determine root cause, address it head on!